The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in Tamil Nadu has announced that it will take care of the educational expenses of students who have secured admissions in private medical colleges in Tamil Nadu under the 7.5% reservation quota for government school students. The announcement came after several news reports highlighted the plight of students who expressed disappointment of not being able to go through with their admissions because of lack of financial resources.
As per a statement, the DMK will bear the complete expenses for the students who secured admissions in private medical colleges in the medical counselling that began on Wednesday. DMK Chief MK Stalin also assured that when his party comes to power, it will take steps to ensure that the dreams of students in rural areas, government and government-aided schools to become doctors comes true.
The Directorate of Medical Education (DME) of Tamil Nadu started the counselling for medical admissions for the MBBS and BDS seats that come under state quota on Wednesday. In the first phase, students who come under the 7.5% reservation for government school students and special quota students were called.
A total of 313 MBBS seats and 92 BDS seats in government and private medical and dental colleges were up for grabs by the students of government schools. As of Friday evening, all MBBS seats and 86 BDS seats were filled by students. However, many students expressed sadness and disappointment despite securing admission due to the fees demanded by the private colleges in the state. As per reports, the students were asked to pay Rs 25,000 upfront to block the seat in these colleges and the annual fee for MBBS in private medical colleges was reported to be Rs 4 lakh.
Following this, the government of Tamil Nadu directed the private colleges to not refuse admissions to any student under the 7.5% quota for their inability to pay the fees. The counselling for other students is set to begin on Monday and will go on till December 4, according to a schedule released by the DME.